Monday, June 28, 2010

Summer is here and love is in the air! This means that many of you will probably be attending a wedding or two this summer. Once you get over the excitement that your friend, cousin, or neighbor from across the street is getting married and has invited you to their wedding, panic sets in. The two things that cause the most worry for the guests ( mainly the female attendees) is what gift to buy the affianced couple and what to wear to the ceremony. This summer I have seen a lot of floral prints and tiered dresses. I was walking past Betsey Johnson and saw a cute floral tiered dress ( J Crew has a similar one too) that would be perfect for a wedding that I will be attending in August. Maxi dresses are in style this summer and I would recommend a maxi dress if you are going to a wedding/ reception that will last well into the night as it tends to get cooler on some summer nights. A maxi dress is light enough to be worn in the sun and long so that you can wear it for an outdoor reception at night. Forever 21 has dresses that are perfect for weddings for under $30!. It even has your classic little black dresses with fun spins on them. If you are in NYC, stop by Topshop; I always can find a few pieces that are perfect for any given occasion ( expect to spend way more money than in Forever 21). I like mixing designers and stores so shop around at some of my favorite spots, Forever 21, Topshop, H & M, J Crew, Banana, and Zara. Zara usually has cute shoes to go with your outfit so that’s a cool place to check out. Now that I gave you the advice on what to wear, I’ll tell you what NOT to wear under any circumstances. Traditionally the guests are not supposed to wear white so please follow the tradition. Do NOT wear anything that shows to much boobage or a dress that is described as a “booty pop dress”. And of course, do NOT even consider wearing jeans, sneakers, or T- shirts. Once you have your outfit figured out the easiest solution to finding a gift is picking out something off the registry. If the couple is not registered, I recently heard that cash is the new champagne glasses, so go for it. Have fun and save a dance for me! Peace, love and fashion!

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Welcome to my blog! Find out the latest fashions and where you can get them without going broke (it’s no fun when your checking account has a negative balance-trust me). Since Monday was the first day of summer I thought that an appropriate first post would be one about how to look cool in the heat without looking underdressed. So let’s talk about leggings. I’ll admit at first I was against the whole wearing leggings as pants idea, but now I see that there is a way to do it without looking trashy. So I will explain to you the do’s, the don’ts and everything else that you need to know before you step out of the house and get ticketed for indecent exposure. First, make sure that you get leggings and not footless tights. Many people think that they are the same thing and in a way they are, however footless tights are exactly that. Footless tights are usually not opaque enough to wear alone. Leggings, on the other hand are made thicker so that even when they stretch they are still thick enough so that you’re not mooning everyone on the street. Stores like H & M have the level of opaqueness printed on the packs of the footless tights and leggings. How opaque a pair of tights or leggings is will be measured in denier which is usually written as den. The lower the den the sheerer the tights are. A pair of 40 den footless tights is not suitable to wear without a long tunic, a skirt, shorts, or some other bottoms to cover your derriere. H & M has leggings that are 100 den which are more suitable if you want to go bottomless. But it is never acceptable to wear leggings strictly as pants. This means, do not wear a tank top that barely covers your belly button with a pair of leggings. Leggings go best with a loose fitting tunic or a shirt dress belted at the waist. H & M,Forever 21, and American Apparel are my favorite places to get leggings but if you find more stores with good quality leggings, let me know. American Apparel has a variety of leggings and tights with some cool, funky patterns so check them out. Another new thing that I am fascinated with right now is jeggings (jean leggings). Jeggings are the best things to wear if you do not want to wear jeans in the summer heat. They are the thickest leggings that you will find and are closer to jeans than leggings because they actually look like jeans. A good brand of jeggings is Joe’s Jeans. Be prepared to splurge a little but it is a good investment. You can find Joe’s Jeans at Nordstrom and Bloomingdales if you do not live near a retail or outlet store or shop online at joejeans.com. I can tell you of one outlet store in New York and that’s at Woodbury Common Outlets in Central Valley. Since jeggings are similar in looks to jeans they can be worn as pants but to avoid looking trashy, pair them with a loose fitting top. It is always good to have contrast in fits when picking out an outfit. But my number one rule in fashion is: do you and no one else. Stay cool everyone. Buy an ice cream cone, go to the beach, and have fun! Until next time…Peace, love, and fashion!